Tuesday, October 31, 2006

On November 1, 1991, 21-year-old Anjelica Duarte underwent an abortion by Dr. Larry Thompson at Women's Place Clinic in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to one of Anjelica's friends, Anjelica had sought an abortion because a doctor had recommended that she delay having another baby for five years due to health problems. Anjelica already had a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old daughter.

After the abortion, Anjelica was kept under observation for several hours, but was not given any care. She was rushed to the hospital by paramedics at 7:30 that evening, but she was dead on arrival.

A hospital spokesman said that she had lost 90 percent of her blood; her uterus had been perforated.

In reviewing the case, the medical board noted that Thompson did not have adequate equipment for post-operative care, and revoked his license.

Anjelica's was not the only tragic death caused by doctors who recommended (or excused) abortion as a life-saving or health-preserving option for the mother:

Allegra Roseberry was pushed into an abortion in order to obtain experimental cancer treatment.

Barbara Hoppert died after an abortion recommended due to a congenital heart problem.

Christin Gilbert died after an abortion George Tiller holds was justified on grounds of maternal health.

Erika Peterson died in 1961 when her doctors obtained her husband's permission to perform a "therapeutic" abortion.

"Molly" Roe died in 1975 when her doctors made the dubious decision to perform a saline abortion to improve her chances of surviving a lupus crisis.

****

Also on this date "Susan" Roe, one of the women Life Dynamics notes on their "Blackmun Wall", died. According to Life Dynamics, they obtained information from the CDC and state health officials about this 21-year-old caucasian woman who died November 1, 1992, after a safe and legal abortion performed in Maine. All they are permitted to release is Susan's age, race, state, and date of death.

Jane Hodgson has died of natural causes at the age of 91. That's a lot of living for somebody who didn't think other people even had the right to draw their first breath.

Hodgson is most famous for having deliberately challenged the Minnesota abortion law by opening performing an abortion in a hospital and getting arrested for it. She also opened and operated abortion facilities in various states. So boundless was her enthusiasm for abortion, and so tireless her promotion thereof, that the Minnesota NARAL chapter named their "reproductive freedom" award in her honor.

She was also a staunch opponent of parental involvement laws, successfully challenging Minnesota's provision that the parents of underage girls be given 48 hours notice before their daughters were scraped out.

For people who think abortion is a good thing, Hodgson was a hero, and they're delighted no doubt that she lived to a ripe old age. For those who recognize a human death in every abortion, Hodgson died with a hell of a lot of blood on her hands.

On this last day of October (I'm in Korea; it's already Halloween morning here.) I'll blog on two October deaths I haven't found specific dates for yet.

***

A Philadelphia boarding house owner reported that in early October of 1839, a Dr. Henry Chauncey appeared at breakfast time. "He made me make some tea of a powder that looked like black pepper." The tea was given to 21-year-old Eliza Sowers, a paper mill worker. She'd been brought to the boarding house by Chauncey the day before.

At around 2:00 the following morning, Eliza called to the boarding house owner. "She said she was very bad. She said, 'I won't take any more of that doctor's medicine; it will kill me.'"

Chauncey returned later, performing some sort of procedure upon Eliza with something "which shined and looked like a knitting needle," according to the owner of the boarding house. Chauncey said that Eliza was "the most difficult person he had ever operated on. Said the medicine he gave her was too powerful, and had acted too quick."

Eliza died from the ministrations of Dr. Chauncey. The trial revealed that Eliza had been seduced by William Nixon, her superintendant at the paper mill.

***

A woman I used to picket with in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, told me of a day she was outside one of Harrisburg's two abortion facilities. The clinic was set back from the street by an expanse of lawn, with a parking lot to the side and back. Sidewalk counselors would stand in the alley, where they could call to the women as they got out of their cars. The picketers would stand on the sidewalk in front, where patients could see their signs from the waiting room.

The woman saw a middle-aged white couple get out of a car. They opened the back door and pulled out a teenage girl who appeared to be Filipine. The girl was crying. The sidewalk counselors called out to her, and she tried to move toward them, the picketer said, but the middle-aged white couple took the girl by the arms and led her toward the front of the building.

The picketer called out to the clinic escort. "Can't you see she doesn't want to do this? I can't step on your property, but you can help her. You're pro-choice, right? Can't you help her?"

According to the picketer, the escort smirked at her, then held the facility door open, to make it easier for the couple to propel the girl into the clinic.

The next time she saw that girl's face, the picketer told me, was on the news.

It was October of 1992, and the news story was about the suicide of 19-year-old Arlin Della Cruz. She had disappeared from her home. A search found her hanging from a tree in a nearby woods. "Under her shirt, the coroner found Arlin's favorite stuffed animal -- a rabbit." Arlin's mother said that Arlin had left a suicide note saying that she wanted to go be with her baby. One of Arlin's friends reported that Arlin wanted the baby, but chose abortion to try to salvage her relationship with her boyfriend.

If the picketer's observations are correct, Arlin had serious second thoughts the day of the abortion.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

For there has been at least one constant in Washington over the past 12 years: almost every time a serious piece of antipoverty legislation surfaces in Congress, [he] is there playing a leadership role.

In the mid-1990s, he was a floor manager for welfare reform, the most successful piece of domestic legislation of the past 10 years. He then helped found the Renewal Alliance to help charitable groups with funding and parents with flextime legislation

More recently, he has pushed through a stream of legislation to help the underprivileged.... With Dick Durbin and Joe Biden, [he] has sponsored a series of laws to fight global AIDS and offer third world debt relief. With Chuck Schumer and Harold Ford, he's pushed to offer savings accounts to children from low-income families. With John Kerry, he's proposed homeownership tax credits. With Chris Dodd, he backed legislation authorizing $860 million for autism research. With Joe Lieberman he pushed legislation to reward savings by low-income families.

In addition, he's issued a torrent of proposals, many of which have become law: efforts to fight tuberculosis; to provide assistance to orphans and vulnerable children in developing countries; to provide housing for people with AIDS; to increase funding for Social Services Block Grants and organizations like Healthy Start and the Children's Aid Society; to finance community health centers; to combat genocide in Sudan.

I could fill this column, if not this entire page, with a list of ideas, proposals and laws [he] has poured out over the past dozen years. It's hard to think of another politician who has been so active and so productive on these issues.

.... the substance of [his] work is impressive. Bono, who has worked closely with him over the years, got it right: ‘"I would suggest that [he] has a kind of Tourette's disease; he will always say the most unpopular thing. But on our issues, he has been a defender of the most vulnerable.'"

Virginia P. underwent a similar ordeal when a school counselor arranged a secret abortion for her 14-year-old daughter, Erin, who ended up hospitalized with life-threatening complications. But again, Virginia's daughter survived.

Ruth Ravenelle has a different story to tell. "They told me I had to get down to St. Luke's right away, that Dawn was at that hospital fighting for her life. I was going, 'How can she be fighting for her life? She left for school this morning, looking healthy, never been sick.' While I was there at the hospital -- they were doing tests -- I had to keep my hand pressed over my mouth to keep from screaming in horror. I kept going, 'This is all a bad dream. I am going to wake up and this will not have happened.'"

Dawn, just 13 years old, had undergone an abortion arranged by a school counselor, paid for by her 15-year-old boyfriend using a relative's credit card.

Dawn's family kept a vigil at her bedside, to no avail. She died of her injuries on Marcy 11, 1985.

For more on secret abortions for teens, and the cost these girls pay, see:

Saturday, October 28, 2006

On October 9, 1993, 25-year-old Giselene Lafontant underwent an abortion by a Dr. Scher at Gynecare in Monsey, New York. She was 9 or 10 weeks pregnant. Within 20 minutes, Giselene had no pulse. She was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital and placed on a respirator.

At 11 AM on October 17, 1947, Dr. Paul Singer, a gynecologist, called police and reported that a woman had come to his office suffering from an incomplete abortion. He said that he had taken 22-year-old Jane Ward, heir to the Drake Bakeries fortune, to Park East Hospital, where Dr. Oswald Glasberg, a plastic surgeon, had helped him to complete the abortion.

Jane died on October 28, and the autopsy confirmed the cause of death as criminal abortion.

After the death, Singer and Glasberg were arrested and released on bail. The baby's father, Eduardo Schneidewind, a trade promotion executive for a South American government, was questioned as a material witness but was never indicted. Dr. Alejandro Ovalle, an X-ray technician, was sentenced to one year after pleading guilty as an accessory, having profited from abortion referrals. Singer was convicted of manslaughter in Jane's death, and sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. The judge, Francis L. Valente, said that Jane had been subjected to "surgical mayhem," and that Singer and Glassberg were "completely devoid of human feeling and decency."

Glassberg was also convicted and sentenced to prison, but was never sentenced because six hours after the verdict on June 14, 1948, Glassberg committed suicide in his cell, having poisoned himself.

I've seen something like this done before, but not sped up like that. It was how they turned the model, who was just an average-looking girl, into what you saw in an ad. The cotton pads in the lips. The duct tape on the breasts. The clips holding the clothes in place. The wind machine. The photoshopping.

Liza Berdiel, a secretary at a New Jersey abortion facility, faces 120 days in jail for performing three illegal after-hours abortions at Pleasant Women's Pavilion. Berdiel injected the women with drugs in late 2004. One of them failed to abort completely and underwent a second, surgical abortion to complete the procedure. (Justice delayed is justice denied? Why did it take nearly two years to get around to jailing this woman?)

Berdiel also reportedly stole prescription pads from abortionist Flavius Moses Thompson, who owns the facility, and wrote illegal prescriptions. Thompson, citing concern that she was pocketing abortion fees, reported missing abortion drugs to the police.

Berdiel's lawyer said that she was acting under dirction from Thompson, but was unable to present any evidence that this was the case.

Berdiel also faces 3 years probation, and has been ordered to reimburse the $380 apiece that the women paid her.

Thompson is no stranger to trouble. Last year he faced allegations of flushing fetal remains down the toilet; he lacked a license to store or process medical waste. Thompson was assessed a penalty of $20,000, plus $22,000 in court costs and attorney fees. He was also directed to complete a course in ethics and one on infectious disease control.

Thompson had just gotten his medical license restored in May, after a revocation by the medical board. However, the restoration only permits Thompson to practice at Kimball Medical Center, and only under another physician's supervision, not unsupervised or at the Pleasant Women's Pavilion.

I'm not sure how they figured out what this guy was planning to do, but he turned himself in. And from FBI comments, it was people close to him that were alarmed at what he was going to do and called the cops. Good job! Kudos!

The bomb detonated while a technician was trying to defuse it, but since they don't say that the technician was injured, I'm assuming he or she is okay. Again, thank God.

They say nothing about the guy's motives. Was he a disgruntled father whose baby was aborted? Ticked off because a loved one had been injured at an abortion facility? An attention hog who figured going after an abortion facility would do the trick? Some deluded anti-abortionist who thought that this would somehow be a positive accomplishment?

One big beef I do have:

He faces a maximum of one year in prison on the charge of attempting to destroy or damage an abortion clinic.

There ought not to be some separate law that makes it especially bad to blow up a place of killing. If we're going to treat abortion facilities differently, the fact that they're abortion facilities ought to be a mitigating factor, because it's perfectly understandable that one would want such a loathsome place shut down. It's just not understandable to use violence to accomplish this. Buy the building and evict the practice. Pray outside it until it shuts down. Set up a CPC and sidewalk counselors until it shrivels up and blows away for lack of business. Lobby until your town changes zoning so that you can't kill fetuses within city limits. Learn about any violations the place or its people are guilty of, and report them to the proper authorities. There are many, many, many legitimate ways to get rid of an abortion facility. Blowing it up, burning it down, and shooting the staff are capitulating to the whole idea that violence is the answer.

Sixteen-year-old Natalie Meyers was brought to San Vicente Hospital in Los Angeles by her mother on October 21, 1972. Milton Gotlib injected saline into Natalie's uterus on the 21st.

On October 22, Natalie expelled the dead baby but retained the placenta. She had trouble breathing and suffered abdominal pain, so San Vicente staff transferred Natalie to County-USC Medical Center just before midnight.

Natalie was in shock when she arrived at County-USC. She underwent a D&C there, but remained in shock from infection in her uterus. On October 26, a hysterectomy was performed to try to control the infection, to no avail. Natalie was pronouced dead at 9:35AM on October 27.

The autopsy found most of Natalie's internal organs swollen and hemorrhagic. Death was attributed to hyaline membrane disease brought on by the abortion.

Natalie is one of many women to die at one of National Abortion Federation member Edward Allred's facilities. Others known to have died after abortion at Allred's facilities include:

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Today, October 27, is an interesting anniversary. On this date in 1838, Governor Lilburn W. Boggs of Missouri issued an Extermination Order, declaring that "the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace...." Most Missouri citizens backed the order (although some did question or denounce it). The Mormons were, in the simplest of terms, "unwanted."

On October 30, with the Extermination Order as justification, a band of the Missouri Militia launched an attack on a small Mormon settlement at Haun's Mill, killing 17 Mormons, including a 10-year-old boy who was shot in the head as he cowered under the bellows of the blacksmith shop, and a 78-year-old man who was shot after he had surrendered his musket. (For a rare and first-person account, see The Reminiscence of Willard Gilbert Smith.)

Years ago, I spoke with a Latter-Day Saints historian, who told me that survivors of the Massacre sued the state of Missouri over the deaths of their loved ones, taking their case all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court, he said, backed the state on the grounds that the killings were perfectly legal.

Meanwhile, the Extermination Order remained on the books in Missouri until recinded by executive order of Governor Christopher S. Bond on June 25, 1976. So until 1976, it was perfectly legal to kill a Mormon in Missouri. Did that make it right?

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Anybody remember that scene in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, where the Catholic father came home and announced that the kids were about to be shipped off to the science lab as guinea pigs: "My mind's made up. It's medical experiments for the lot of you!"

Who would have thought that Michael J. Fox -- freaking Marty McFly, for cryin' out loud! -- would be walking into an IVF clinic, looking at the frozen embryos, and saying, "My mind's made up. It's medical experiments for the lot of you!"

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

It's illegal to bring Vegemite, that yeast spread Aussies so love, into the US, because it contains folate and the FDA has only approved folate as an additive in certain foods. Give me a break!

This is on the one hand so small a matter as to hardly seem worth getting roiled up about, but on the other hand, what business does the FDA have banning a food because it contains a freaking nutrient!

I've smelled Vegemite and that convinced me never to taste Vegemite, but if the Aussies want to bring their Vegemite in to the US, I say more power to them! Stores should be allowed to import and sell Vegemite so that expats can enjoy their favorite spread, and so that Americans can be exposed to this uniquely Australian .... um ... substance. (Can't say "treat;" sorry!)

What's really bizarre is that women are being told to make sure they get enough folate, because folate prevents spina bifida and anencephaly. Here's a handy folate source and it's freaking banned? Whatup with that?

Was it a legally aborted fetus, disposed of a bit unorthodoxly? Or was it a preemie who was murdered? The cops say the latter. The clinic says the former. Operation Rescue has details, including a copy of the search warrant the cops used to retrieve the body.

Isn't it bizarre, that they have to do an autopsy -- to call in a forensic medical expert -- to tell if what they have in a bag is the body of a murdered person or mere tissue? Ordinarily the arms, the legs, the internal organs, would be a dead giveaway. But thanks to those who devalue the very young, it now is impossible for a layman to distinguish between a baby and garbage, even when the entity in question is alive and wriggling in front of you.

The search warrant authorized the officers to search for "Human body, including but not limited to, babies, remains of babies, embryos and parts thereof;". Legally, at least, the fetuses and embryos have human bodies.

It notes that "Ms. Rojas called your Affiant and advised hte baby's mother's name was Sycloria Williams.... [Sycloria] ... arrived at the clinic for a pre-scheduled abortion. At approximately 2:30 p.m. [Sycloria] gave birth in the recovery room of the clinic. [She] observed the baby moving and gasping for air for approximately five (5) minutes. The staff began screaming that the baby was alive; at which time, Ms. Belkis Gonzalez cut the umbilical cord, threw it into a red bag with black printing. Ms. Gonzalez then swept the baby, with her hands, into that same red bag along with the gauze used during the procedure."

The police were told on July 28 "that the body of the baby was tossed on the roof top of said building then later retrieved and placed back into the business."

All I want to do is make smartass comments about what an ignorant dolt the mother must be if she could mistake a blob of formless, worthless, undifferentiated "tissue" for a baby, just because it's moving around and gasping. And the cops, when they found the "tissue" in the bag, must be very stupid to think that the wee teensie weensie bit of undifferentiated tissue even remotely resembled a baby. And the medical examiner -- what a yahoo, to need to do an autopsy. Why, all right-thinking people know that abortion only removes a glob of tissue, a "fertilized egg," a wad of gunk no bigger than the period at the end of a sentence, yada yada yada. It was removed during an abortion, ergo no mater how advanced the pregnancy, it was formless, undifferentiated, worthless tissue.

It all began when 19-year-old Angela Scott stopped breathing in the recovery room. A nurse-anesthetist was administering anesthesia to 14-year-old Deloris while Dr. Jacob Adams was performing her abortion. The nurse-anesthetist ran to assist in efforts to revive Angela, leaving Deloris unattended with her anesthesia drip still running.

After staff had resuscitated Angela and loaded her into an ambulance, they returned their attention to Deloris, who had gone into cardio-respiratory arrest. Adams had accompanied Angela to the Grady Memorial Hospital, and staff refused to release Doloris to an ambulance until the physician had returned to discharge her. This resulted in a 30-minute delay, during which the ambulance crew was unable to attend to Deloris or begin transporting her.

Angela lingered for a week in a coma before dying on June 11. Deloris never regained consciousness and eventually was admitted to a nursing home, where she died of adult respiratory distress syndrome on October 24, 1979, some time after her fifteenth birthday.

If you look at comments from supporters of PP's petition, if these people ever find out about the way PP actually operates, there's gonna be such a backlash that there won't be a PP left standing anywhere in America, because angry people are gonna tear them down brick by brick. (Not to mention did these people know that their names and comments would be posted online?) My own comments, when I add them, will be in italics for easy identification:

Sue Vallejo, Texas: "This is clearly a case of " bait & switch" and should be stopped." Hey Sue -- how about promising "options counseling" then only selling abortion?

Erin Bendle: Alaska: "Women deserve truth and respect when making choices about their bodies and health... not deceit." How about Kris Humphrey, thoroughly prochoice, who was so disgusted with how disrespectfully she was treated at a Planned Parenthood that she attempted her next abortion herself, at home, and ended up dead as a result?

Reverend Pennie Mumm, Washington: "I am shocked that my tax dollars are funding disinformation and pressure, and it needs to stop now." By all means. Go to STOPP and make your voice heard!

Merril Locke, North Carolina: "Stop the deception!" About as apt a thing to say to PP as anybody's ever said.

Michael Kane , California: "Do we expect our government to use our tax money to circulate and perpetrate dishonest information? Do we? Yeah, every time we give tax dollars to PP. Whatever happened to 'truth in advertising laws?"

Carol Kelly, Kansas: "Informed choices are the only way to determine a course of action. Trickery and fakery should not be allowed!"

Diane Kruse, Colorado: "Do not use my tax dollars to provide incomplete health information to women in crisis. Respect their ability as adults to make the best informed decision by providing full information."

Amber Ziembam Pennsylvania: "Stop lying!!!" If only PP would!

DAN & NANCY URICH, Illinois: "STOP THE LIES AND DECEIT."

Laura Sakalas, Ohio: "As a mother to be it deeply offends me that another woman in my position may be misled into thinking they are receiving accurate medical opinions from individuals that may have no medical training. The fact that my tax dollars are paying for it just makes me ill." Boy, I bet she'd be thrilled to know about the abortion clinics that have been caught having people with no medical training administering the anesthesia -- and that Planned Parenthood has never consider this outrageous enough to start a campaign to stop it.

Robert Russell, Massachusetts: "It is just not acceptable for an organization to claim to offer someone support in a crisis, only to use the oppurtunity to impose their views upon them."

Matthew Ellenwood, Illinois: "Clinics that are funded by taxpayers need to present accurate, unbiased information that allow the patient to make his/her own choices. To use taxpayers money to supprot a platform for a specfic viewpoint is a misuse of funding and needed to be carefully monitored"

Myra S. MacDonald, Michigan: "I do not want my tax dollars spent on deceiving women and pressuring them into a choice they don't want to make"

Rick Severin, Iowa: "Deceptive advertising and FRAUD should not be allowed."

Michael Reid,Maryland: "Ask yourself...."Would I want my child going to a fake doctor?" Truth is what sets us free NOT deception and manipulation."

HEATHER MCHALE, Virginia: "whereas I disagree with abortion except in the case of rape or where the mother is in danger,these women have the right to REAL,ACCURATE information before agreeing to any procedures."

Jessica Greenbush, California: "I have a right to put my tax dollars where I want them to be or remove them from where I don't want them to be. I do not support this false clinic issue. Please do not make me pay for something I don't believe in. You wouldn't want that done to you." Think how we feel, Jessica, when our tax dollars are going to Planned Parenthood and paying for this slander against CPCs. Not to mention the other lying and bad behavior PP engages in.

Eric Triffin, MPH, Connecticut: "This is false advertising and a bait and switch scam! It must be called for what it is and stopped." Do you hold PP to the same standard? How about having them stop promising "options counseling" that's really just an abortion sales pitch?

Gayna Uransky, California: "If the clinics presented both sides of this weighty question, it would be a good idea. Doesn't sound as though this is the case. Let's cut their funds." PP doesn't present both sides. Not by a long shot. So here's to Gayna catching on to this fact and demanding that PP be defunded.

Jill Landshof, New Hampshire: "This fraudulent practice is based on two premises. That the end justifies the means and that the perp is all knowing. Both premises are wrong." Those are the premises upon which PP works, Jill. Open your eyes!

Nanette Dolski, Ohio: "Deceiving women.....why?"

Antoinette Sellitto, Pennsylvania: "Don't use my tax dollars for any more deception in this country." Which means that we need to yank PP's funding.

CATHERINE COX, Arizona: "The time for making a profit at the expense of the vulnerable must END!!!!" Amen to that. Go to Silent No More and ask how you can stand in solidarity with them.

Laurel Colton, North Carolina: "Please, do not use our tax money for others to make life altering judgements."

K. Wren Grahame, California: "No more deception from ANYONE!" Does that include PP?

Sandra Lopez, California: "No one should be lied to."

Jazmin Hope, Florida: "accurate information on ALL sides and ALL options should be available to ALL women at ALL clinics" I would hope that you also mean abortion clinics need to be giving accurate information on all sides and all options.

Barbara McAlexander, Florida: "Anyone who gives the impression that they are a trained medical professional, when they are not, needs to be stopped." How about Barbara Lofton at Hillview? Notice that Planned Parenthood never got their panties into a twist over her presenting herself as "Dr. Lofton" to the point where her own staff even thought she was a doctor!

Peter Stickney, California: "I have nothing against a Pro-Life clinic that offers the choice of adoption and pre-natal care and help; but they must let the individual decide what is right for her and must not fill her head with nightmarish ideas and fears." How about the bogus story PP told to get you to sign this petition? Any beef with that?

Patricia C. Bode, California : ""Truth in advertising" must be observed in all fields, not just what type of sugar is used in a Pop Tart. How have they gotten away with this misleading and cruel tactic for so long?" The real question ought to be how PP has gotten away with it for so long.

Ari Reeves, Maryland: "Women in need must not be deceived."

Hillary Wentz , Texas: "These women deserve to know the truth and I am appalled that our taxes are going towards paying for their deception."

Nancy Powlas, Tennessee: "Ambiguity and/or vague representation of a business's true nature or intent perpetrates emotional abuse on women already in a life crisis. This is simply an ethical wrong and should not be allowed." Like PP's promises of unbiased "options counseling"?

Brad Tilson, Oregon: "Pregnant women ... should not be taken advantage of by withholding important information about the views of those who offer to help. To do so is equivallent to decieving a client in order to gain their confidence and influence their decisions. In other words: a con game." Like the con game PP plays when they pretend to be neutral but are actually steering women into abortion?

Susan Rudinger, California : "ALL women need to be given an equal amount of information on all options."

Jesika Smith, California: "It really doesn't matter what your belief system is, lying to anyone for any reason is flat out WRONG!" Like the way PP lied to you to get you to sign a petition?

Debbie Feder , New York: "It is wrong to manipulate young women who need support,not coercion!"

Kierstin Van Camp-Horn, Arizona: "Fraudulent organizations such as this should not be legal." Which means that PP ought to be banned.

Cori MacNaughton, Florida: "Don't we have enough misinformation to sift through already??? At a critical time in her life, when a woman may be under undue pressure from outside parties already, it is imperative that she be able to rely on any edifice offering itself as a "crisis pregnancy clinic" to give her balanced, unbiased information, without obligation or agenda. To do otherwise is both immoral and entirely unethical." If you knew the experiences women had at Planned Parenthood....

christine bucklin, California: "Deception is not a respectable practice."

Ann Austin, Texas: "Our government should take every opportunity to stop interference with a person's personal life and his/her personal decisions." Which would pretty much shut down every abortion clinic in the country. Except maybe the one where Charlotte Taft works.

Edson E. Campbell, Arizona: "Let's put the sexual racketeers out of business!" Not sure what you mean, Edson, but if anybody qualifies as "sexual racketeers" it'd be the folks at PP.

Christine Van Deusen, Connecticut: "This is a serious issue, this affects the respect of any woman, trying to make important decisioins her life, women do not need to be more scared they they already are, when it comes to pregnancy, and issues surrounded them, this is taken advantage of women at their Prime of emotional struggles."

Elisha Harrison, Iowa: "Professionals have an obligation to provide HONEST, informed healthcare. You are a disgrace to our profession!"

Melinda Sanchez, Michigan: "Counseling centers should be required to give information on all options available, and give as much information possible on each option."

Alison Sparks, New York: "I'm shocked that any Democracy would allow fake clinics." Like the abortion "clinics" that are actually doctors' offices but pretend to be clinics so that the women think that they're protected by regulations? (Did anybody bookmark examples? I have to leave for work soon and don't have time to do a search.)

Robyn Furse, Washington: "Stop this false advertising that intimidates and decieve women when they are in a vulnerable state. It's like psychological rape." How about the actual rapes by Lawson Akpolunu in his abortion practice? The rapes Diane Sawyer considered "a non-story"?

Theresa Ramseyer, Missouri: "Women should be notified about alternatives, but not forced to accept one, or to die from a back alley type abortion, which could happen, given this situation. To abort or not is not an easy choice for women - bullying and forcing won't help." Check here for more information on the bullying and forcing that women endure.

Julie Sanders, Texas: " This is unethical and WRONG - please help stop the abuse of vulnerable women!" Go to Silent No More and offer your support, if you oppose the abuse of vulnerable women.

Jenny Weisenbeck, New Jersey: "Please help women make informed choices, whatever they may be."

Patricia Moore, Michigan: "Practices like these prey upon the vulnerability of women in crisis. Their abuses must be stopped."

Melanie Jordan, Texas: "Your attention to this matter is appreciated." Wouldn't you rather they cleaned up their own dishonest act, and maybe went after abortionists who rape, injure, and kill women?

Phoenix Ewing, California: "Taking advantage of women when they are in emotional crisis is deplorable." Which is why abortionists need to be held accountable.

Rita Dorsey, Georgia: "I support a woman's right to choose for herself without being trapped or deceived into a decision."

Tori Myers, New Mexico: "All deceptive advertising should be illegal, but especially that which treats women and women's issues with such a condescending and condemning attitude."

Bonnie North, New Jersey: "I am not in favor of abortion, but instead am in favor of birth control. However, deceiving women to get them into a situation where someone tries to influence a very personal decision is just not right."

Kimi Walker, Arizona: "A woman should have the right to choose and be given correct and truthful information!"

sarah ghezaili, New York: "It is absolutely appalling that people need to take advantage of women who are seeking help and guidance to further their anti-choice cause." How about when they take advantage of women purely to line their own pockets?

PAMELA THOMAS, Arizona: "YOU CANNOT HELP A PERSON WITH DECEIT."

Barbara Dini, Washington: "This commission of fraud must be stopped. Women have the right to correct information."

Dominique Willard, Minnesota: "Stop the corporate welfare, of which this deceptive endeavor is a part."

Harold Walba , California: "Although we often differ on political issues, I hope we are on the same side when it comes to deception of woman."Actually, Harold, you and PP are not on the same side, if you disapprove of deceiving women.

Lori Panu, Louisiana: " I believe that no one should be deceived when faced with such an important decision as an unexpected pregnancy"

Diane Pellegrini, Washington: "Deception is never a good idea!"

Dana Marie, California : "We should have the right to choose, without persuasion in either way."

Heather Preisendanz, New Jersey: "Women should not feel their personal lives pressured by the opinions of others in this manner!"

Lauren Damon, California: "This act of luring in patients and making them feel guilty for a choice that is already hard enough is disgusting." What about luring them in to sell them an abortion they're gonna regret the rest of their lives?

Karen Lindner, Washington: "It is important that women have information about what they are choosing in terms of reproductive care. Deceptive advertising is dangerous to women's health."

Joseph Wolf, Oregon: "Women in these circumstances do not need to be subjected to a faith-based "agenda"; they need medical services and unbiased info!" Which they're not gonna get at an abortion clinic.

Ryan Harper, Oregon: "Part of making a proper choice is accurate information. No woman can make a choice she can live with if she doesn't have the right information."

Pamela Fleetwood, Washington : "If it takes preying on the unsuspecting with lies and psychologically coersive tactics to further a cause, that cause is NOT just or moral."

James B Sitrick Jr, New Mexico: "Especially with regard to such an emotional and difficult issue, women should not have to run the risk of seeking assistance from those without a license or right to do so."

Bev Sutton, Arizona: "Clinics should advertise their purpose accurately." Absolutely. PP ought to be honest about the fact that, as one PP administrator told me, "If she doesn't already know she wants an abortion, she has no business walking into a Planned Parenthood." PP ought to advertise that they are making the assumption that if you walk in the door, you've already chosen abortion and want them to make sure you go through with it regardless of your qualms.

Nancy A Bilzing, Missouri: "misinformation is lying... and that's what these people are doing... lying to girls and women who are very vulnerable!!"

Martha L. Hamilton, North Carolina: "false representation to gain customers is unethical and on the verge of being illegal."

Dale-Ann Verma, Texas: "This is horable women have a right to choose after being given correct information about there health issues."

Summer Hudson-Watters, Washington: "This is absurd. People in this "medical" industry should be there to aide women, not persuade them into another way of thinking thru lies and trickery. This is false advertisment at its pique and lives are on the line. Something must be done to stop this deceit."

lisa gunther, California: "When are women going to stop being used as political pawns? When are we as women going to band together and demand better?" They are starting to band together and demand better. See Silent No More.

Molly Heidemann, Indiana: "Women have the right to accurate information!"

Marietta Thompson, Oregon: "False advertising of any sort should be penalized"

Nancy Shinn, Oregon: "It is immoral for these predators to intimidate women in crisis and confusion"

Sarah Jacobson, California: "When women go into clinics they should be given full and accurate information on the issue they came in for. Fake clinics staffed with volunteers giving out false information with no medical background should be a case for prosecution. I really resent my tax dollars going for fradulant deceptive policies such as this one."

Kathleen Conroy, Massachusetts: "Althogh I am not an avocate of abortion I am against false advertising"

Harrison Hartley, Missouri: "All people - EVEN WOMEN! - deserve access to fair, complete information of any kind, all the more so when it concerns their health." I like the "even women". As if there's some presumption that ordinarily women aren't entitled to fair, complete, accurate information.

Kristin Hulett, California: " People, i.e. women, have a right to know that others are being honest and telling them the truth."

Jeffrey Van Davis, Illinois: "Deception is never a good practice"

April Ziering, California: "This is called false advertising. UNACCEPTABLE!!"

Rebecca Schneider, Arizona: "Health centers should be required to BE actually what they advertise they are." And doctors' offices ought not to pretend that they're licensed clinics.

Tristen Warner, California: "This issue is highly important to every woman whether or not she personally agrees with pro choice. Every woman deserves full information about her choices of her body and all that pertains to it."

Carol Anne Shiels, Massachusetts: "FRAUD comes in all shapes and sizes." One of the most distinctive being the PP logo....

Carol Dressler, New York: "AS a survivor the right care makes the difference between life and death !" I'm not sure what Carol is referring to, but I have to agree that the right care makes the difference between life and death. As too many women learned by dying because they trusted abortion clinics.

Kathleen Perezm Wisconsin: "How can our government pay for such deceit? Outrageous!!"

Jeff Stamper, California: "This is false advertising, and must be stopped. Misleading women in such a manner is totally inacceptable, and should not be allowed to occur anywhere."

Glen J. Kemp, Florida: "I do want my hard earned taxes to be spent on deceptive, unprofessional and unqualified "medical" services such as fake abortion clinics. Such dishonesty is beneath our dignity, wastes our tax dollars, and should not be funded nor supported by our government." Is it also beneath our dignity and a waste of our tax dollars when it's spent to lie to sell abortions to frightened women?

Nineteen-year-old Diane Boyd lived in a state institution for the mentally retarded. There, she was beaten and raped in July of 1981, and was later discovered to be pregnant.

An abortion was arranged for Diane at National Abortion Federation member Reproductive Health Services in St. Louis, and Diane's mother signed a consent form. The abortion was performed October 22, 1981. Diane died the next day.

According to suits later filed by Diane's mother, RHS staff and abortionist Robert Crist did not check for possible drug interactions before giving Diane valium and sublimaze. These drugs evidently reacted with Diane's usual medication, thorazine, causing her to stop breathing. Diane's mother said that the clinic lacked heart monitoring equipment or resuscitation equipment.

Diane was not the last woman to die after abortion by Crist. Seventeen-year-old Latatchie Veal bled to death after an abortion by Crist in 1991. Twenty-two-year-old Nichole Williams died of DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulopathy) after an abortion by Crist in 1997.

Fourteen-year-old Sandra Kaiser committed suicide after a 1984 abortion at RHS, performed without her mother's knowledge or consent.

On October 16, 1936, 26-year-old Katherine DiDonato, mother of two, was admitted to Roosevelt Hospital to be treated for complications of a criminal abortion. Katherine's husband reported that the abortion had taken place three days earlier. Detectives were told that Katherine had bought pills from drug clerk Hyman Kantor, who had then recommended Dr. Aloysius Mulholland to perform an abortion.

Katherine died at 2 AM on October 23. Both Mulholland and Kantor were arrested and charged with homicide.

Emma Bickel, a 59-year-old midwife, was charged with second-degree manslaugher in the death of 19-year-old Emily Nohavec of St. Louis. Bickel had been a midwife for 28 years, and had a reputation for "uprightness" and honesty.

Emily, who was single, had been living with her sister in St. Louis, and she worked as a clerk in her sister's vegetable store. On October 18, 1913, she first reported feeling ill. On Monday, October 20, a Dr. Reber was summoned to see her. He diagnosed her with septic peritonitis. The next day, her condition was critical and she was admitted to Rebekah Hospital. There, Dr. Garcia was called in for consultation. Drs. Reber and Garcia agreed that an immediate laparotomy was needed to try to save Emily's life.

The doctors found Emily's abdominal cavity inflamed. A cyst about the size of a pear surrounded her left ovary, her right ovary was surrounded by pus, and there was pus in her fallopian tubes. The doctors removed these purulent organs and inserted drainage tubes.

Dr. Reber also curetted Emily's uterus and packed it with iodoform gauze. He noted an ulceration about the size of a hazelnut inside the cervix. The edges of this ulceration were ragged and torn, and Reber concluded that this was caused by instrumentation. Reber also believed that swelling near where the fallopian tube entered the uterus was caused by instrumentation. Reber believed that an abortion had been performed a week to ten days before he was first called to examine Emily.

Dr. Garcia, on the other hand, agreed that Emily had recently been pregnant, and that the pregnancy had ended at about two months, but noted "there were no direct punctures or cuts, scratches, or anything of that kind in the uterus, or in the abdomen." He agreed with Dr. Reber that the sepsis was caused by an abortion, but he disagreed about the abortion having been induced. Dr. Garcia concluded that Emily might merely have miscarried.

Despite the efforts of both doctors, Emily died the following day, October 23.

That same day, Dr. Hockdoerfer performed an autopsy. He made the same findings as Drs. Garcia and Reber, except that he also found a section of placental implantation about the size of a quarter. He agreed that retained placental tissue had caused the sepsis, but did not find any signs of damage from instruments. Emily had been in good health prior to her final, fatal illness.

So what had happened?

While Emily was hospitalized, police officer William H. Coates arrested Emma Bickel and brought her to Emily's bedside. Coates testified that he asked Bickel if she knew the girl, and Bickel said yes, she did know her. Coates testified that he then said, "You performed an abortion on her, didn‘t you?" To which, he testified, Bickel replied, "Yes." Coates took Bickel to the police station where she made a statement. Coates wrote out the statement as follows:

Department of Police, City of St. Louis.7:16 P. M., Oct. 22, 1913.To whom it may concern I herein state that on or about October 13th, 1913, Emily Nohavec came to my house in the evening and said she was in trouble and wanted me to help her out. I told her it was dangerous for to do a thing like that, and she said, 'You need not be afraid,' that 'I won't tell on you.' I then inserted a catheter into the private parts and opened her womb. She then paid me about five or seven dollars; I don't remember which. She came back in two days, and I again put the catheter into the womb. She left, and I never saw her until I saw her this evening at the hospital.The above statement was made of my own free will, and not by any threats or promises or violence to me.[Signed] Emma Bickel.Witnesses: Off. W. H. Coates; Off. David J. O'Connor.

When called upon to testify in court, however, Bickel denied having performed an abortion on Emily. She said that she never knew Emily until the girl came to her house, saying that she was "in trouble." Bickel said that she asked Emily, "How far along?" To which Emily replied that her period was two weeks late. Bickel said that Emily told her that she was married, and that she had taken some medicine to cause an abortion, and had also taken a box of pills. Bickel said that she told Emily, "Well, if you are only two weeks gone they ought to bring you by your next monthlies." Bickel said that she then sent Emily away.

Bickel said that about two weeks later Emily, who had still not given her name, returned, saying that she was ill, and willing to pay $7 for an examination. Bickel said that she used a speculum to examine Emily, and found her cervix open and exuding a foul discharge. Bickel testified that she told Emily to consult a doctor. She said that this took place about two weeks prior to Emily's death, and that she'd not seen the girl between the examination and being brought to the hospital by Officer Coates.

Bickel testified that she had confirmed that she knew Emily, and that the girl had come to her house, but that Coates did not ask her at the hospital if she had performed an abortion. She said that she was taken to the police station, that Coates had written out the statement and told her to sign it, so she'd complied.

Bickel said that she‘d never told Coates that she'd inserted a catheter, that she'd tried to discourage abortion, telling Emily "that it was a dangerous thing to do a thing like that." She said that she'd only signed the statement because she was excited and confused and was merely doing what she was told.

Despite her protestations of innocence, Bickel was convicted. She was sentenced to three years in prison. She unsuccessfully appealed her conviction.

Considering the reality of false confession, it is entirely possible that Bickel was telling the truth in court. The documents I've accessed don't clarify what led police to suspect Bickel, and what, if any, other evidence led to her conviction.

After the abortion, Carole went into shock, and was taken to a hospital. Despite all efforts, Carole died before doctors could even fully asssess the extent of her injuries. She left behind four children.

The autopsy found that Carole's cervix and uterus had been cut open, and an artery outside her uterus had been cut. It also noted sutures that had evidently been put in by Ketchum in an attempt to repair the damage. The sutures, however, completely closed Carole's cervix, allowing her to continue bleeding from the injured uterus and artery.

Carole was the second woman to bleed to death after an outpatient hystertomy abortion performed by Ketchum; Margaret Smith had died four months earlier under very similar circumstances.

Another former criminal abortionist, Milan Vuitch also had kept his nose clean as a criminal abortionist, then went on to kill two legal abortion patients. Wilma Harris and Georgianna English both died under Vuitch's care.

I blogged earlier about the disappearance of abortionist Louis S. Meyers. I have very little to add.

My search of the Illinois database found no record of Meyers. However, Joe Schiedler's people found him here, I must have been sleepy, because I missed it. At any rate, all they had was "Disciplinary action taken prior to 1990 is not available through IDPR's online License Look-up." Something over sixteen years ago is hardly going to be motivation for vanishing.

What's disturbing is that I can find nothing at all about the missing man. Okay, he did a deplorable thing for a living but he was still a human being. Doesn't he have family or friends who are worried that he's missing and are looking for him? Hasn't anybody filed a missing person's report? Why does nobody in the world seem to care what's happened to this fellow?

It is time again for the Margaret Sanger at the Ku Klux Klan Rally Art Contest. This year's contest will highlight the 80th Anniversary of Margaret Sanger's speech to the the women's branch of the Silver Lake Ku Klux Klan. In her own 1938 autobiography, Margaret Sanger An Autobiography (1971 reprint by Dover Publications, Inc. of the 1938 original published by W.W. Norton & Company) Sanger indicates at pages 366-367 that the she got along quite well with members of a New Jersey branch of the Ku Klux Klan at her 1926 speech, eventually getting a "dozen invitations to speak to similar groups."

Participants in this year's contest are encouraged to commemorate Sanger at the Klan rally in unique artistic ways. Drawings, cartoons, historical novels, haiku, dance, plays, videos, paintings, quilts, rap, actual photos of Silver Lake, modern interpretations of Sanger speaking to the Klan, reenactments of the actual speech on YouTube, audio recordings of actual Sanger quotes she may have reused when speaking to the Klan - - there is no limit to the artistic ways this historic event can be commemorated.

Sylvia Redman, who had a license to practice naturopathy, signed a written confession on October 20, 1954 regarding the death of Betty Ladel. Redman said that Betty came to her on October 8, saying that she thought she was pregnant. Her period was about a week late. Redman said Betty asked her "if I could help her get rid of the baby. I told her the danger of everything and she said she was not afraid. I told her I would rather her to go somewhere else and have the baby stopped in twenty four hours, because my work is slow. I do it by shooting a little air up into the womb. (uterus) By going through the cervix into the uterus, where the embryo is carried. She told me she wanted me to do it."

Redman said that she used a speculum and syringe to shoot some air into Betty's uterus, though she wasn't really sure if Betty was pregnant. She told Betty to return every other day. Each time Betty returned, Redman shot a little more air into her utuers, asking her if she felt anything. Sometimes Betty responded in the affirmative, sometimes not.

On October 19, Betty again went to Redman, who took her upstairs, "laid her on a table used for females," and inserted a canula into Betty's uterus. She pushed five syringes full of air into Betty's uterus and asked Betty if she could feel it. Betty said that she could, a little. "And she looked up at me and said I feel choky, and then she passed out."

Redman said, "I used artificial respiration. I picked her up in my arms and laid her on the floor. And I slung water at her to try to revive her, and then I had a lady downstairs to call an ambulance. The ambulance came and got her and took her to Harris Hospital. After this happened I called a friend and asked her what to do and she said throw all that stuff away. So I went upstairs to get the instruments that I had used, and I had just come downstairs when Mr. Howerton and Mr. Armstrong and another detective walked in. I told them I'd be with them in a minute and I kinda hid the instruments that I had used on Betty Ladel behind me, and I stepped into the back and put the instruments in a garbage can. Then I came back out to talk to Mr. Howerton and I admitted to him what I had done and he asked me what I had used on Betty Ladel, and I took him out (to) the garbage can and showed him exactly where I had hidden them and what I had used. He asked me if I had performed an abortion on her and I told him no, but I wasn't telling him the truth. And I gave these instruments to Mr. Howerton and Mr. Armstrong and the other detective. After she had told me that she felt choky, and after I laid her on the floor, I noticed she was bleeding from the vagina."

An autopsy verified that Betty had indeed been pregnant, and blamed her death on the introduction of air into her uterus to produce abortion. The six or seven week old embryo was entact and undamaged, though, of course, dead. Betty's blood vessels had air in them, and she had died from an air embolism.

The testimony of the authorities who investigated the case supports the confession. The police indicated that upon questioning, Redman showed them the table she'd used and retrieved the instruments from a garbage can.

Redman was convicted of murder by attempted abortion, and was sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary for four years.

Christina Goesswein, ("Patient A" in medical board documents) was 19 years old and almost 23 weeks pregnant when she went to the office of Dr. Braz Bortot to get an abortion. Dr. Bortot referred her to Dr. Moshe Hachamovitch in Bronx, New York. Christina went to the office of Hachamovitch on October 17, 1990, and the first part of the three-day abortion procedure was started that day. She was sent home and told to return the following day to have her cervix dilated even further for the abortion, which would take place on the 19th.

She came back on the 18th and had more laminaria inserted then returned home. That evening, her boyfriend called the doctor's office because Christina was having cramping. He was told to give her pain medicine. Christina's boyfriend called again several hours later because he felt that she was running a fever, but Christina told Dr. Hachamovitch's employee who was taking call that evening that she was okay.

Early in the morning of the 19th, the boyfriend called the employee again because Christina was experiencing heavy bleeding, cramping and vomiting. Christina stated that she felt that she was in labor. The employee instructed Christina to go to the doctor's office where she and the doctor would meet her. They all met at the office some time between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. After arriving at the office, Christina lost control of her bowels. Hachamovitch then delivered her 24-week fetus in one piece. Because Christina was not recovering as she should have, Dr. Hachamovitch finally decided to admit her to an area hospital, but before this could be done, Christina quit breathing and her heart stopped.

Somebody called 911 at about 4:20 a.m., and Dr. Hachamovitch began CPR. Christina was taken to a Bronx hospital where she was pronounced dead at 6:11 a.m. on October 19, due to an amniotic fluid embolism.

Hachamovitch's license was suspended over his false documentation regarding administration of oxygen, and the Christina's blood loss. In its documents, the medical board notes that Hachamovitch failed to record "identity of the individual who performed and interpreted a sonogram of Patient A;" "failed to record the size and type of laminaria....;" "failed to properly address the possibility that Patient A might require emergency medical care near her home.... in the course of the two days between the insertion of laminaria on October 17 and the scheduled performance of an abortion on October 19;" "made no effort to provide for more local and immediate medical care for Patient A at or about 3:05 a.m. on October 19, when he learned that Patient A was experiencing heavy bleeding, vomiting and severe cramps...."

The board faulted Hachamovitch for doing an abortion "in the face of heavy bleeding, severe cramps and vomiting and involuntary bowel movements." "Respondent failed to arrange for Patient A to be taken to a hospital before performing any procedure on her so that her condition could be properly managed;" "performed the abortion and D&E without proper monitoring and resuscitative equipment;" "failed to adequately prepare the patient for foreseeable complications;" "failed to have a licensed physician or certified nurse anesthetist present during the surgery...;" "inappropriately sedated Patient A."

"Once Patient A went into cardiopulmonary arrest Respondent failed to properly attempt her resuscitation." The board also found fault with Hachamovitch because he did not "describe adequately ... the procedure used to terminate the pregnancy;" "failed to perform and/or record the findings of a gross examination of Patient A's uterine contents immediately post-abortion;" "intentionally represented in his record for patient A that she received continuous oxygen by mask despite knowing that this was untrue;" "intentionally represented in his record that Patient A had no bleeding at all despite knowing that this was untrue."

Despite the disciplinary action, Hachamovitch was able to resume his practice, leading to the death of Tanya Williamson in 1996. Hachamovitch had already allowed patient Luz Rodrigues to die of abortion complications in 1986.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Abortionist Louis S. Meyers took over abortionist Aleksander Jakubowski's business as a tenant when Jakubowski retired. But several weeks ago, Meyers vanished. Jakubowski has evicted his absent tenant.

Now, it's always good news when one of these places closes down, but what the heck happened to Meyers? Did he meet with foul play? Did he deliberately disappear to escape something in his life? Or did he have one of those strange attacks of amnesia that people have sometimes? Prayers that he does turn up safe and sound, but also that he turns his hand to another line of work.

I have nothing in my files on Meyers, so I don't know what he might be running from. I've done a web search and found nothing, and he doesn't show up on the Illinois professional licensing web site. WTF?

A Pennsylvania man who was charged with killing a pregnant woman and her unborn child has been convicted. Stephen Poaches killed his pregnant girlfriend, LaToyia Figueroa, because she refused to succumb to his demands and those of another girl he was dating to have an abortion.In a nonjury trial, Judge Teresa Sarmina found Poaches guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 24-year-old Figueroa and her unborn child. Poaches was given a sentence of life prison without the possibility of parole.

Now, first of all I want to make it very clear that I don't think this man's behavior is representative of "prochoice" men. He is a psycho bastard.

I'd like to do a study of men who kill women for refusing to abort, and find out what impact public rhetoric had on their perception of how reasonable or unreasonable the woman was for refusing an abortion. I just get the feeling that growing up hearing how abortion is a "right," and how women both want and need "more access", may give some guys the feeling that the only possible motive for refusing an abortion is sheer contrariness.

Please, I am not saying that prochoice rhetoric is inciting violence against pregnant women! I don't care how unreasonable the guy thinks she's being, that's still no excuse for killing her. That responsibility falls squarely on his head. I just wonder how the rhetoric colors such men's perceptions of the woman's motives in refusing abortion.

On the same date three years apart, criminal abortion claimed the lives of two New York women.

On October 18, 1939, Miss Alice Corbett, age 28, of Brooklyn, New York, died from complications of an illegal abortion. Dr. Allen F. Murphy was sentenced to 2-10 years in Sing-Sing for Alice's death.

On October 18, 1942, 23-year-old Harriet Lichtenberg of Brooklyn died in Royal Hospital, the Bronx, from suspected criminal abortion complications. Dr. Henry Katz was indicted for first degree manslaughter in Harriet's death.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Medical care seem to be more expensive at World Vision than at Mercy Ships, possibly because Mercy Ships relies so much on in-kind donations. So they don't have to pay a doctor or for the OR, they just have to pay for the actual surgical supplies.

Nevertheless, many things in the World Vision catalogue are exciting, and they're available for giving in a wide price range:

Monday, October 16, 2006

Please accept my apologies, wonder what would have been....Choosing our life over your life meant your deathAnd you never got a chance to even open your eyes....I wonder about your skintone and shape of your nose?And the way you would have laughed and talked fast or slow?Think about it every year, so I picked up a penHappy birthday, love you whoever you woulda been....And from the heavens to the womb to the heavens againFrom the endin' to the endin', never got to beginMaybe one day we could meet face to face?In a place without time and spaceHappy birthday

LifeNews reports that a poll of 500 Denver residents, conducted by Survey USA, found opposition to Ms magazine's "I Had an Abortion" campaign. The poll, conducted October 4, found that overall 50% of Denver residents considered the campaign a "bad decision" while only 33 percent called it a "good decision". Women were slightly more opposed to the campaign than men, with 53 percent calling it a "bad decision" and 29 percent a "good decision".

LifeNews didn't indicate why the people thought it was a bad decision.

It would be interesting to compare the public response to the "I had abortion; I have no regrets" campaign compared to the public response to the Silent No More "I had an abortion; it was a horrible mistake" campaign. Does anybody know if there's been a poll on that?

Maria Lira was a 19-year-old college student when she went to Riveria Hospital on October 14, 1974, to undergo an abortion. After she'd been discharged, Maria had problems and returned. Staff perfromed a D&C, then discharged her again.

That night, she went to the emergency room due to excessive bleeding. She was sent to Torrance Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Maria died at Torrance Memorial on October 16. The autopsy found a decomposing fetus in her uterus, which had caused infection and DIC (disseminated intravacsular coagulopahty). The DIC prevented clotting, causing the hemorrhage that killed Maria.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Now, I can even go so far as to see the point in the cockroach protest. Sort of. I mean yeah, if cockroaches were sentient, I'm sure the ones living in abortion clinics would cast their votes for Sebelius. She does seem to be looking out for their best interests. But if you're going to do that sort of thing, just showing up in a cockroach suit and passing out pictures of the dead roaches in the clinic, with some sort of "Save our brother cockroaches from a similar fate: Support Sebelius!" on the front, and an explanation on the back, would have done the job. Wearing Sebelius masks and dancing around and interrupting the debate, on the other hand, just makes you a clown. You're no longer a protester making a valid point. You're another loudmouthed heckler.

Once you put on the cockroach costume, you're already teetering on the brink and you have to be darned careful that you make your point and make it clearly. Otherwise you're just a nutcase. And it's not like we don't already have enough trouble with the press picking out the biggest nutcases and presenting them as typical.

Thanks, Troy. Now we're all going to be seen as uncontrollable, immature hecklers in roach suits.

And nobody's going to remember the real clinic with the real cockroaches.

On October 15, 1915, Anna Anderson, a 25-year-old unmarried woman, went to the office of Dr. A. A. Ausplund. She had previously gone to another doctor who had examined her and found her to be about three months pregnant. She‘d asked him to perform an abortion, but he‘d refused.

Dr. Auspland said that Anna was ill upon her arrival at his office, and asked him to examine her. He attempted to do so, but she gasped in pain as soon as he‘d inserted his fingers. He said he immediately saw that she was dying and went out for a stimulant, seeking help from a female physician practicing in the same building.

The two doctors, assisted by a third doctor, were unable to revive Anna.

The coroner and other witnessed testified that Anna was found with her skirts removed. They found a bloody sheet in Dr. Auspland‘s office, as well as a bloody doctor‘s coat. Several medical instruments were noted, one of which appeared to have a portion of placenta on it. The floor in his operating room was wet, as well as a Kelly pad.

The autopsy found signs of recent pregnancy of about three months duration, as well as trauma to the interior of the uterus. It was estimated that the injuries were sustained about five to eight hours before death. The undertake who embalmed Anna said that there was almost no blood in her body.

The court documents were unclear as to who, if anybody, was finally found responsible for Anna's death.

On October 15, 1990, 23-year-old Angela Satterfield underwent a legal abortion. The abortionist did not diagnose Angela's ectopic pregnancy. He simply performed an abortion procedure and sent her home. That evening, the undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy ruptured. Angela was found dead in her home. She had hemorrhaged. Her death certificate only mentions the ectopic pregnancy and the hemorrhage, but not the abortion. Only by checking her autopsy notes would one learn of the failure of the abortionist to diagnose the ectopic pregnancy.

Even though, in theory, women who choose abortion should be less likely to die of ectopic pregnancy complications, experiences shows that they're actually more likely to die, due to sloppy practices by abortion practitioners.

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